


Christmas Crazy

by Genius_626



Series: Girl Meets The Hunters [1]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Christmas Special, Father-Daughter Relationship, Feels, I mean not really but the parallels are unavoidable, Maya and Shawn are the same person, Missing Scene, New Family Fluff, a sprinkling of headcanon, former dysfunctional family evolving with love and newfound understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-20 07:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19988710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genius_626/pseuds/Genius_626
Summary: Maya isn't the only one worried about Christmas. Shawn hasn't celebrated the holiday in years, and he wants it to be special for his new family.A plethora of missing scenes throughout the Season 3 episode "Girl Meets a Christmas Maya"





	Christmas Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's July rn, I just watched the episode for the first time the other day and it needed extra scenes.
> 
> Also, I'm super not sure if the episode takes place before or during Christmas, so I'm making my own headcanon timeline.
> 
> Also also, I apologize for the POV going back and forth so often, I needed certain parts to be in Maya's perspective, but I think the bulk of it is in Shawn's.

It was a week before Christmas, so winter break was in full swing. While Maya was drawing at the kitchen table, she was waiting for her mother and Shawn to get home from his place upstate. He was moving out of that cabin in the woods he'd been renting, and on top of that, he and Katy were looking for a new apartment, something a little bigger for all three of them. 

She heard voices in the hall, and then the sound of the front door being unlocked. Shawn came in carrying a heavy box, Katy just behind him holding a few plastic bags. They were talking and laughing, and Maya couldn't help but smile at them, albeit bittersweetly in this exact moment. It'd been so long since she'd seen her mother so genuinely happy, especially during the holidays, and Maya was beginning to worry about if this happiness could last. What if it was just as fleeting as holiday cheer seemed to be?

After setting down their things, Katy took off her coat and hung it on the hook by the door.

"Hi, baby girl," Katy said. "Did you have fun with Riley today?"

"Yeah." Maya answered. "We built tiny snowmen on top of people's cars."

"And by _we_ , do you mean, _you_?" Shawn asked. "And where is the evidence? I need pictures."

"I have no idea what you mean." Maya said coyly, taking out her phone and unlocking it without looking at the screen. She handed it to Shawn, who happily scrolled through the documentation of Maya's creative prank.

Katy shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table. She peaked over Maya's sketchbook and lit up. “Hey, that looks really good!”

“Thanks. It's alright.” Maya said. “Still a work in progress.” 

Shawn put the phone down and cringed. " _Oh no_ , that reminds me." He went to retrieve one of the bags they'd brought inside. “Speaking of works of art, what do you think of this?” He then pulled out a glittery orb hanging by a string and covered in tinsel. It had Corey and Shawn’s faces on it.

“Oh, wholly cheese.” Katy said, earning a playful eye-roll from her daughter.

“So, do you two ever decorate for the Holidays?” Shawn asked, “Because Corey made this and I have no idea where to put it.” He placed it on the table in front of Maya, who promptly poked at it with her pencil. 

“Let’s burn it.” She said with a big smile on her face.

“I think it’s sweet that Corey still makes these.” Katy said, “Even if it _is_ hideous.” 

“If it disappears, I’m ratting you out.” Shawn said to Maya, taking off his jacket and slinging it over the back of his chair.

“Go ahead, betray your only daughter on Christmas.” Maya countered with a wry smile. “And our decorations are buried in the closet somewhere. Good luck finding them.”

“We don’t usually do much, I’ve spent a few too many Christmas’ at work,” Katy admitted. “But not this year.” She reached for Shawn’s hand. “This year will be different.”

Maya was always happy to see her mother’s newfound optimism, but she couldn’t help but dread the holiday. Somehow, something always went weird--not just wrong, but _weird_ \--and although she tried to suppress the thought, she was beginning to have doubts about how well this Christmas would turn out.

…

In recent years, Shawn had learned to avoid Christmas altogether. He'd learned to avoid most of his friends, too, which he'd pretended didn't bother him. He was used to being alone; he was used to taking his loneliness and using it as fuel to keep going, keep moving to the next town, the next state, the next article, the next paycheck. 

But after staying away from everyone he cared about for so long, he was finally ready to make a change. 

"I have no idea what to get them." Shawn told Cory. "Christmas is in three days and I still haven't done _any_ kind of shopping."

They were out for lunch, not at Topanga's today, they'd gone somewhere with plenty of complimentary bread rolls. 

"Don't overthink it." Cory advised with a mouthful of bread. "What are your strengths?"

"What?"

"You're strengths! You're a writer and photographer, you could make something personal for Katy and Maya."

"I don't know." Shawn grumbled, feeling defeated. "I was waiting for Katy's birthday to do family portraits, and I already gave Maya a set of photos for her locket. It's our first Christmas as a family, I don't want to get them something underwhelming."

Cory put the bread down and looked at his best friend square in the face. "Shawn, you really have nothing to worry about. Christmas is about being together, especially for you and your family right now. Whatever you decide to do, as long as you're there, everything will be OK. Maya will have the father she's always wanted, and Katy will have the husband she's always deserved."

Shawn sighed. "You're right, you're right. But I still feel like there's more I can do. Maybe..." He paused for a second, thinking. "No, no, it's probably too late for that."

"It's never too late for that!" Cory said, pounding his fists on the table and intently staring at Shawn. A silent beat passed between before he asked; "Too late for _what_ exactly?"

"Want to go on an adventure?" Shawn asked. "We might be out searching for a while. If we're successful at all."

"Check please!" Cory said loudly in the general direction of no waiter in particular. They quickly realized they hadn't ordered anything yet, but had no time to spare. With bread rolls stuffed in their jacket pockets, the two men barreled out of the restaurant and back to the car. 

...

Maya came home later that day, totally surprised to find an actual tree in their small living room. It was a moderate size, the pine smell already dispersed through the small apartment. It was even sitting in one of those metal tree planters, with water and everything. There were colorful lights on it, some candy canes, and that horrible arts and crafts project Cory had made.

Shawn came in from the next room, a wide smile on his face. Katy came in next to him, equally excited. 

“Hey, what do you think?” Shawn asked. 

“Shawn and Cory got it to surprise us!” Katy added. “Isn’t it perfect?”

“Wow, it’s…” Maya didn’t have words. They’d never had a tree before. “Yeah, it’s great.”

Shawn and Katy both looked at each other quizzically, wondering if something was wrong.

“I, um, I have...a thing...I was gonna do.” Maya said, trying to cover up her retreat. “An idea for a drawing I have to sketch out before I forget.”

She barreled into her room and shut the door. Christmas was fast approaching, she couldn't even try to ignore it in her own home. Shawn had never seen their level of crazy bad holidays before, and she wasn’t about to watch her family implode because of it. But what could she do to avoid such a disaster?

She’d hideout at the Mathews, that’s what she’d do.

…

Maya had kept to herself for over an hour now. Shawn and Katy had kept to themselves and decided to try and find the rest of the Christmas decorations from the closet. Despite how small the closet was, there was a lot crammed in there, so husband and wife worked together to clear it out and sort through it all. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Shawn asked Katy. He was standing on a wooden stool reaching up onto the closet's top-shelf. Katy was sitting on the couch sorting through some closet junk they'd found.

“No, she’s just not the best with change.” Katy said. “And to be honest, neither am I, even if it’s a change for the better. And on top of that, we’re not used to being so…so close, or so honest with each other.” She sighed heavily. "This past year has been really different for the both of us. A lot of it has to do with you."

“I get that." Shawn said. "You've both changed my life, more than I can say. At first, I stayed away, but now..." He turned to look at his wife, "Now I'm home." 

Katy beamed, getting up from the couch to walk up to her husband. Shawn took a step down and they kissed. Since they'd both been without this kind of care and affection for so long, they always took advantage of a quiet moment. 

Shawn pulled away. "I think I found it."

"The box?" Katy asked, watching him reach up to the top shelf again. 

"Is it shimmery?" He asked, taking out a very shiny red box. It was a cardboard box, a little heavy, and slightly larger than a shoebox.

"Yes! That's the one!" 

Both Shawn and Katy went to the couch. Lifting the lid and placing it aside, Katy picked through the box until she found what she was looking for.

“This is my favorite ornament!” She said. “Maya made this in kindergarten.”

She handed Shawn a flat little clay reindeer, unevenly painted brown and with a little red fuzzy ball glued to the end of the snout. The reins were made of a now ragged piece of tinsel. He felt the weight of it in his hand and tried to imagine what Maya as a little kid.

“She must have been a handful.” Shawn said. "And you raised her by yourself. I can't imagine."

“My mom helped me raise her, and it was hard, I won’t lie, but I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.” She thought for a moment then. “I know I have an old photo album my mom made years ago...hold on...” She dug around the box and found said album at the very bottom. "Here it is! I haven't seen these pictures in ages!"

Katy opened the album and found nothing but precious memories. Shawn listened as she told him about Maya's first birthday, her first haircut, her first words. It was all so emotional -- for Katy who hasn't reminisced about good memories in a long time, and for Shawn, who was only just beginning to learn about this little family's history. 

That gave him an idea. But he couldn't give it away, he would have to wait until morning.

"You know, the Christmas before last, I was up in Jersey." Shawn told Katy.

"Were you working through the holidays?" Kate asked.

"Yep. Didn't have anything better to do. I was writing a piece about traveling during the holidays. What to expect, what to avoid, stuff like that. On Christmas Day, I found myself at a diner eating cherry pie. That's about as much as I did to celebrate, and it was still one of my better Christmas'."

Katy sighed. "Well, I was at a diner last year. The year before last, Maya was there, drawing at the counter. She ate a tuna melt and strawberry shortcake. I remember it snowed that night."

Their eyes met, and for a moment, they sat in silence. Shawn put his arm around Katy, and she leaned into him, and it felt like they could do this forever; it felt like the worst was finally behind them.

...

On the day before Christmas Eve, Shawn had work to do. He'd secretly taken the photo album and brought it to the Mathews', in need of their scanner and computer since his own equipment was in a box somewhere. Setting up this surprise for Katy had turned out to be the easy part, now what to do for Maya?

He agreed with Cory, his gifts had to be personal. He'd tried the store-bought route with Maya before, and that had backfired spectacularly. He also knew what exactly this gift had to say to her, what it had to mean. 

"What do you get Riley for Christmas?" Shawn asked Cory. They had both sequestered themselves in the computer room, keeping Shawn's project shrouded in utmost secrecy. 

"You can't use me and Riley as a rubric," Cory said. "We're the exact opposite of you and Maya."

"Then I'll do the exact opposite of what you do!" Shawn replied. 

Cory shook his head in disapproval, and Shawn waved him off, going back to his project. Clicking on thumbnails, he made sure the pictures were all scanning properly. Cory looked over his shoulder. 

"Hey, that one looks familiar." Cory said, pointing at an image of young Maya and Riley. "Why can't this present be for both Katy and Maya?"

"Because Maya needs something else, something that only...only her dad could do for her." Shawn spun around in the computer chair to face Cory. "I don't know what I'm doing, Cor. I didn't have a dad who was there for me, and neither did she. I need to do this right."

"And you're doing a great job already." Cory said. "You love her enough to overthink this. It's sweet, but getting a little annoying."

"Oh, I'm annoying?" Shawn said, exasperated. "Do you know how many times you e-mailed me pictures of your infant daughter?"

"It couldn't have been more than four, five--"

"Thirty-three times!" Shawn yelled. "I remember because I put them in a separate folder labeled, _Cory's annoying e-mails!_ "

Cory feigned offense, dramatically slapping a hand over his heart. "How could you call my daughter's adorable face annoying!" He then pushed Shawn aside, bending over the keyboard and clicked away, searching for a specific image. Finding it, he reared back and pointed at the screen. He'd clicked and enlarged a photo of baby Maya. 

"I think this picture is pretentious." Cory said, arms crossed. "Her eyes aren't even open."

"I didn't take that picture." Shawn said. "I...I wish I had." He shook his head. "There's so much I don't know, because I wasn't there."

Cory looked at his friend sympathetically. "You're there for her now, that's what's important."

Shawn sighed, sitting back in his chair. "I can hear it now. I've been a broken record for a few days now. Sort of annoying." He looked up. "But you did just give me an idea."

...

Early on Christmas Eve, Shawn left to go upstate. This would be his last run, after turning in the last bits of paperwork to the landlord, he was all moved out. It took half the day to get there, make sure everything was in order, drive to the landlord, talk everything over, and head back to the city. When he got back home, he was surprised to find no one else there. 

He texted Katy, who told him that she and Maya would be home soon, offering no explanation as to where they were coming from. So "soon" could take a while, and Shawn was slowly realizing how odd it was to be alone in this apartment. 

"I'm not alone this year." Shawn heard himself say. He didn't know why he'd said it, maybe to reassure himself that this was actually happening. Tomorrow was Christmas, and his family was coming home soon.

"Way to be dramatic, Hunter." He chastised himself. He didn't want to be nervous, but he was, just a little. Sitting and waiting wasn't going to help, so he went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate. He figured it was kind of Christmas-y, at least Katy had thought so when she'd included it in the groceries. 

A few minutes later, Shawn heard footsteps down the hall, as well as two voices that put all his nerves to rest. Grabbing Katy's present, he hid it behind his back, went to the door, and opened it before Katy could even get her keys out of her purse. 

"Fancy meeting you here." Katy said, a bright smile on her face. 

"I thought you'd never get here." Shawn said, stepping aside to let them walk in. 

"It's Riley's fault." Maya said, walking past him and plopping herself on the couch. "She wanted to show us the meaning of Christmas."

Shawn laughed. "Sounds like Riley. Sounds a little like Cory, too. Did you learn anything?"

"Hey, what's that behind your back?" Maya asked, wanting to change the subject. "The box wrapped in mom's favorite color?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Shawn replied, revealing the gift that he had indeed wrapped in pink paper. 

"Oh, Shawn." Katy said, blushing. 

"I don't think I can wait until tomorrow." Shawn said, handing it to her. "Merry Christmas."

Katy, who was somewhat speechless, sat on the couch next to Maya and carefully unwrapped the box. Inside, she found a blank photo frame. It was heavier than she expected it to be. Turning it over, she found an off-and-on switch, as well as a battery compartment. 

"Go ahead, turn it on." Shawn said, and so she did. The blank frame turned into a bright screen, and right there appeared a picture of baby Maya, bundled up and yawning. Katy put a hand over her mouth as it transitioned to the next photo, one of both herself and a laughing 3-year-old Maya in her arms.

"I scanned everything in the album," Shawn said, taking out a USB from his pocket. "Now you can have them on your computer, and wherever else you want."

Katy had tears in her eyes. "I love it, Shawn."

"I haven't seen these pictures in forever." Maya said, watching the screen. "Hey, that's you!" She said, pointing at an old childhood photo of Shawn, Cory, and Topanga. It was faded and discolored, but their likenesses were undeniable.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind, I wanted it to be our whole family." Shawn explained. 

"It's perfect," Katy said, placing the picture frame on the coffee table so that she could hug her husband. "It's absolutely perfect."

Maya sat back, looking at her parents. Her _parents._ It was so different and new that it almost didn't sound real, which is why she didn't want to mess anything up. But seeing them now--seeing what Shawn had done with all of their old photos--it made her smile.

"Maya," Shawn said. "I have something for you, too."

He reached into his shirt pocket and produced a folded piece of paper. He reached over Katy, and Maya took it, a little cautiously. With nothing snarky to say to ease her mind, she quickly unfolded the paper. Quizzically, she read through it. 

"This is a work assignment." Maya said. "You're going to Maine next week?"

" _We're_ going to Maine." Shawn corrected. "Just the two of us, on a father-daughter road trip. But only if you want to, and if it's OK with your mother."

Maya looked up at her step-father, and then to her mom.

"That sounds like fun, sweety." Katy said. "And you'll be home just in time before school starts."

"Yeah, it does sound fun." Maya said. "I'd like that a lot."

"Good." Shawn said. "Because I feel like we have some catching up to do." He glanced over at the continuously changing photo frame and pointed at a particularly ridiculous picture of a younger Maya covered in glitter and looking very unhappy about it. "Like, tell me what the story behind this one."

They stayed up well into the night, losing track of time swapping stories and finding Christmas specials on TV. Maya wondered if every Christmas could really be this nice. She thought that with her little family together like this, maybe it could be. 


End file.
